The Courier-News Bridgewater, New Jersey 03 Aug 1931 - With the Women of Today By Mrs. Lillian Cambell - In a small, bright blue country house at Dividing Creek, N. J., where tourists are invited to stop, lives the Countesa Josephine de Castelvecchio FrabLsilis, grandniece of Napcleon Bonaparte, ex-empror of France. The countess is now 64 and is suffering from cataracts of both eyes and injuries sustained in an automobile accident. She has had a varied career as noblewoman, actress, teacher of piano, languages and acting, as war worker, interpreter and lastly farmer. She desires now to sell her farm and go back to New York. Born at Paris, the countess was the youngest child of the Count de Castelvecchio, a son of Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, ex-king of Holland, brother of Napoleon I. and his second wife, an Italian noblewoman. The countess mother was a Baroness Pasteur d'Estreillis. Her father died when she was a mere baby. In the course of her education she took piano lessons from Prof. Francesco PalamidessL who was hailed as a genius. The baroness thought the music master would make her talented daughter happy and accepted his suit for her hand. They were married when the countess was a girl of 15. The marriage proved an unhappy one, and when the young bride was 24 it was annulled. By this time the countess' fortune was sadly depleted, but she used her talents to give concerts in the homes of friends in London, at St. James Hall and at the embassies. Under the name of Miss Oldcastle she played with Ellen Terry and Sir Henry Irving in many Shakespearean plays. She also starred in "Trilby," "Plot and Passion," "Quo Vadis." "Caste," and many other celebrated plays. Augustin Daly, the great manager, persuaded Miss Oldcastle to come to New York, and she became an American stage favorite. Among her treasures are letters of congratulations from Sarah Bernhardt. Sir Henry Irving. Tommaso Salvini and others. He true identity was disclosed in 1903, eight years after she had been acting on the American stage. That same year she married Marquis Antonio Frabisilia, once professor of languages to the royal family of Greece, and the chief court interpreter in New York City. He died several years ago. In 1920 she purchased the small farm which she calls Moo Ben Plaisir,-My Good Pleasure.
The Morning Post - Camden, New Jersey 21 Dec 1932
COUNTESS JOSEPHINE She was the Countess Josephine de Castel-vecchio Frabasilis, grandniece of Napoleon III, a noblewoman by right of birth. She was none the less a noblewoman by right of conquest. It is pitiful that poverty should finally have sealed her romantic and adventurous career; that she should die in a charity hospital. For the Countess Josephine was a fighter. In prosperity and adversity, youth and old age. hers was an indomitable spirit which refused to accept defeat and which met each new hardship with a stout heart and a gay smile. Her whole life was a challenge to her. Left destitute, with four children, by her first husband, after he had wasted her fortune, she taught languages to make a living. A meeting with Ellen Terry won her to the stage. A tour, under Augustin Daly brought her to America. She became a citizen. Her second marriage, to a New York court interpreter, was followed by outstanding work in the suffrage movement and many activities in behalf of the Allied cause during the war. It was at the close of the war that she and her husband moved to "Mon Hon Plaisir," the little farm at Dividing Creek. Their fortunes waned. Her husband died. She taught piano, French, Italian, painting and cared for as much of the little farm as she could. With increasing age came ailments. She grew almost blind. But she fought on. She would rent all of her home but one small room and then, almost helpless, friends did their best for her. Was there bitterness at the end in that charity hospital? Not for her. She remained gay, entertaining fellow-patients with her reminiscences. Those in South Jersey who knew her mourn her passing a proud, couragous, and gracious character - a true noble woman.
The Morning Post - Camden, New Jersey 21 Dec 1932
COUNTESS JOSEPHINE She was the Countess Josephine de Castel-vecchio Frabasilis, grandniece of Napoleon III, a noblewoman by right of birth. She was none the less a noblewoman by right of conquest. It is pitiful that poverty should finally have sealed her romantic and adventurous career; that she should die in a charity hospital. For the Countess Josephine was a fighter. In prosperity and adversity, youth and old age. hers was an indomitable spirit which refused to accept defeat and which met each new hardship with a stout heart and a gay smile. Her whole life was a challenge to her. Left destitute, with four children, by her first husband, after he had wasted her fortune, she taught languages to make a living. A meeting with Ellen Terry won her to the stage. A tour, under Augustin Daly brought her to America. She became a citizen. Her second marriage, to a New York court interpreter, was followed by outstanding work in the suffrage movement and many activities in behalf of the Allied cause during the war. It was at the close of the war that she and her husband moved to "Mon Hon Plaisir," the little farm at Dividing Creek. Their fortunes waned. Her husband died. She taught piano, French, Italian, painting and cared for as much of the little farm as she could. With increasing age came ailments. She grew almost blind. But she fought on. She would rent all of her home but one small room and then, almost helpless, friends did their best for her. Was there bitterness at the end in that charity hospital? Not for her. She remained gay, entertaining fellow-patients with her reminiscences. Those in South Jersey who knew her mourn her passing a proud, couragous, and gracious character - a true noble woman.
The Courier-News Bridgewater, New Jersey 03 Aug 1931 - With the Women of Today By Mrs. Lillian Cambell - In a small, bright blue country house at Dividing Creek, N. J., where tourists are invited to stop, lives the Countesa Josephine de Castelvecchio FrabLsilis, grandniece of Napcleon Bonaparte, ex-empror of France. The countess is now 64 and is suffering from cataracts of both eyes and injuries sustained in an automobile accident. She has had a varied career as noblewoman, actress, teacher of piano, languages and acting, as war worker, interpreter and lastly farmer. She desires now to sell her farm and go back to New York. Born at Paris, the countess was the youngest child of the Count de Castelvecchio, a son of Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, ex-king of Holland, brother of Napoleon I. and his second wife, an Italian noblewoman. The countess mother was a Baroness Pasteur d'Estreillis. Her father died when she was a mere baby. In the course of her education she took piano lessons from Prof. Francesco PalamidessL who was hailed as a genius. The baroness thought the music master would make her talented daughter happy and accepted his suit for her hand. They were married when the countess was a girl of 15. The marriage proved an unhappy one, and when the young bride was 24 it was annulled. By this time the countess' fortune was sadly depleted, but she used her talents to give concerts in the homes of friends in London, at St. James Hall and at the embassies. Under the name of Miss Oldcastle she played with Ellen Terry and Sir Henry Irving in many Shakespearean plays. She also starred in "Trilby," "Plot and Passion," "Quo Vadis." "Caste," and many other celebrated plays. Augustin Daly, the great manager, persuaded Miss Oldcastle to come to New York, and she became an American stage favorite. Among her treasures are letters of congratulations from Sarah Bernhardt. Sir Henry Irving. Tommaso Salvini and others. He true identity was disclosed in 1903, eight years after she had been acting on the American stage. That same year she married Marquis Antonio Frabisilia, once professor of languages to the royal family of Greece, and the chief court interpreter in New York City. He died several years ago. In 1920 she purchased the small farm which she calls Moo Ben Plaisir,-My Good Pleasure.
The Morning Post - Camden, New Jersey 21 Dec 1932
COUNTESS JOSEPHINE She was the Countess Josephine de Castel-vecchio Frabasilis, grandniece of Napoleon III, a noblewoman by right of birth. She was none the less a noblewoman by right of conquest. It is pitiful that poverty should finally have sealed her romantic and adventurous career; that she should die in a charity hospital. For the Countess Josephine was a fighter. In prosperity and adversity, youth and old age. hers was an indomitable spirit which refused to accept defeat and which met each new hardship with a stout heart and a gay smile. Her whole life was a challenge to her. Left destitute, with four children, by her first husband, after he had wasted her fortune, she taught languages to make a living. A meeting with Ellen Terry won her to the stage. A tour, under Augustin Daly brought her to America. She became a citizen. Her second marriage, to a New York court interpreter, was followed by outstanding work in the suffrage movement and many activities in behalf of the Allied cause during the war. It was at the close of the war that she and her husband moved to "Mon Hon Plaisir," the little farm at Dividing Creek. Their fortunes waned. Her husband died. She taught piano, French, Italian, painting and cared for as much of the little farm as she could. With increasing age came ailments. She grew almost blind. But she fought on. She would rent all of her home but one small room and then, almost helpless, friends did their best for her. Was there bitterness at the end in that charity hospital? Not for her. She remained gay, entertaining fellow-patients with her reminiscences. Those in South Jersey who knew her mourn her passing a proud, couragous, and gracious character - a true noble woman.
The Morning Post - Camden, New Jersey 21 Dec 1932
COUNTESS JOSEPHINE She was the Countess Josephine de Castel-vecchio Frabasilis, grandniece of Napoleon III, a noblewoman by right of birth. She was none the less a noblewoman by right of conquest. It is pitiful that poverty should finally have sealed her romantic and adventurous career; that she should die in a charity hospital. For the Countess Josephine was a fighter. In prosperity and adversity, youth and old age. hers was an indomitable spirit which refused to accept defeat and which met each new hardship with a stout heart and a gay smile. Her whole life was a challenge to her. Left destitute, with four children, by her first husband, after he had wasted her fortune, she taught languages to make a living. A meeting with Ellen Terry won her to the stage. A tour, under Augustin Daly brought her to America. She became a citizen. Her second marriage, to a New York court interpreter, was followed by outstanding work in the suffrage movement and many activities in behalf of the Allied cause during the war. It was at the close of the war that she and her husband moved to "Mon Hon Plaisir," the little farm at Dividing Creek. Their fortunes waned. Her husband died. She taught piano, French, Italian, painting and cared for as much of the little farm as she could. With increasing age came ailments. She grew almost blind. But she fought on. She would rent all of her home but one small room and then, almost helpless, friends did their best for her. Was there bitterness at the end in that charity hospital? Not for her. She remained gay, entertaining fellow-patients with her reminiscences. Those in South Jersey who knew her mourn her passing a proud, couragous, and gracious character - a true noble woman.
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